


Endgame Plus

by ArmaadaJ



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Mid-Credits Scene Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-10-26 11:30:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20741504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArmaadaJ/pseuds/ArmaadaJ
Summary: As his senior year of high school approaches, Peter must find his place in a world that is still recovering from the Blip. The Avengers need new members, but New York still needs a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man. How much more of his personal life is Peter willing to sacrifice in order to continue being Spider-man?





	1. Endgame Plus

Under different circumstances, robbing a bank in the middle of NYC in broad daylight probably wouldn’t be the worst idea ever. Unfortunately for the would-be robbers in question, they had chosen to rob this bank on a Saturday morning. Which meant that one Peter Parker, alias Spider-man, was totally free to swing by and stop any crimes that he noticed without the fear of getting detention for missing class. And even more unfortunately for said robbers, Spider-man was in a really shitty mood today, for several reasons. So, in this case? Robbing a bank in the middle of NYC in broad daylight was probably the worst idea ever.

  
“Honestly you guys,” Spider-man quipped as he webbed the last of the robbers to the floor, “there are much better ways to make a withdrawal. Online banking has never been easier!” One of the robbers tried to say something rude, probably about his rights as a citizen or something, but Spider-man interrupted him with a web across the mouth. “Don’t worry,” he said, cheerily patting the robber on the head, “I’m pretty sure I used the non-toxic web formula today.” The robber’s eyes widened in fear and he tried to say something that ended up sounding like “nnmph tmphmpm wbbb frpmlmph?!” but Spider-man figured it wasn’t important, so he turned his attention to the cops, who were taking statements from the few witnesses that had been present. Thankfully, no bystanders had been harmed. One of the officers quickly moved to speak to him.

  
“Thanks for the help Spidey,” the cop said seriously, “But frankly, we could have handled this on our own.” Spider-man raised a skeptical eyebrow.

  
“Sure, you probably would have caught these guys eventually,” Spider-man acknowledged - he always tried to make sure the cops got their credit when it was due, “but you would have caught them after a chase. Which would have been way messier than just picking them up, all nicely gift-wrapped and ready to go.” He helpfully gestured towards the large pile of webbing and criminals in the center of the bank’s waiting area, and the officer had to suppress a smile at that.

  
“Be that as it may,” the officer insisted, “We really shouldn’t be condoning your actions here. It’s still technically vigilante justice.” Spider-man shrugged dismissively.

  
“Hey, handling all of that legal stuff isn’t actually one of my superpowers, believe it or not,” He began moving towards the exit, sensing that he had overstayed his welcome. “But I left a written statement over with the peanut gallery there, so hopefully you guys can still put them away properly.” Before the officer’s legality lecture could continue, Spider-man had shot out a web and was swinging several blocks away. Sighing in resignation, the officer made his way over to the pile of robbers, which was topped with a hastily scrawled note that read “One(1) shipment of wannabe bank robbers, handle with care ~Your <strike>Freindly</strike> Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man”. 

Half an hour later, Spider-man was sitting cross-legged on top of a train headed upstate. He probably could have called for a ride to the Avengers Base, or even swung there himself, but he much preferred taking the train. It came with the amazing wind-in-his-face feeling of web-swinging, but without using up half a day’s worth of web fluid. Plus, the reception on top of the train was way better than it was inside of it. Once the train was far out enough that he knew he wouldn’t be caught on any cameras, Peter yanked off his mask and lay back completely, finally getting a chance to relax. Fishing his phone and earbuds out of his backpack, Peter put on some music and began catching up on texts. He had two from May confirming how long he’d be gone (he planned to be back home Sunday afternoon), one from Happy confirming what time he’d be arriving (probably around 2pm, if no one tried to hijack the train), and one from Ned, containing a list of autographs he wanted Peter to bring back from the Avengers Base (Peter knew for a fact that half of the people on the list wouldn’t even be there this weekend, but he didn’t have the heart to tell Ned that). As Peter hashed out responses to the messages, he received a notification that made his heart jump out of his chest.  
_**(1) Unread Message - MJ**_  
Peter felt his heart rate quicken as he opened the message. Even though he and MJ had officially been a couple for three months now, Peter still got butterflies in his stomach from just thinking about her. Honestly, he couldn’t help it. Even though she was still just as devastatingly deadpan and snarky as ever, she had finally started to show a more caring and emotional side to him. Kind of. Shaking his mind free of his daydreams, Peter picked his phone back up and actually read the message.  
**MJ: Hey dork**  
** MJ: Still doing Spiderman stuff?**  
** Peter: Kinda. On the train upstate rn**  
** Peter: Also, it’s Spider-man, not Spiderman**  
** Peter: Respect the Hyphen**  
** MJ: Literally no one cares**  
** Peter: Ned cares!**  
** MJ: Ned doesn’t count**  
** Peter: :(**  
** MJ: :P**  
** MJ: Are we still doing lunch tomorrow?**  
** Peter: YES. definitely**  
** Peter: i mean if you still want to**  
** MJ: Of course i want to dumbass**  
** MJ: I’ve had 3 months to make up my mind im not changing it now**  
Peter couldn’t stop himself from grinning like an idiot at that last response. Yes, MJ had had plenty of time to decide if dating an up-and-coming Avenger was a good idea or not, but it still made Peter giddy to know that his girlfriend did in fact want to continue dating him. It was almost enough to distract Peter from the several reasons for the bad mood he was in earlier. Almost. As the adrenaline from the day’s hero work wore off, Peter felt a dark cloud begin to envelope his brain, and the reality of why he was going to the Avengers Base this weekend began to set in. Most other people would use a long train ride as an opportunity to reflect on such things, and possibly even introspect about them a bit. Unfortunately, Peter Parker was a teenage boy.  
_‘Nope,’_ Peter thought stubbornly, _‘Don’t wanna be depressed right now.’_ And with that, he pulled his mask back on and decided to swing the rest of the way to the base. 

It was early in the afternoon when Peter arrived at the base. Even though he had been there a few times since it had been rebuilt, the massive facility still managed to take his breath away every time. When he touched down in front of the lobby entrance, he was greeted almost right away by Happy, who actually looked happy to see him for once. Peter removed his mask as soon as they got inside.

  
“Glad you could make it kid,” Happy said as the two made their way through the base. “Pepper and Morgan have been looking forward to this.” Peter didn’t need super-hearing to hear the hurt in Happy’s voice. “Things have been...rough lately. We’d hoped that they’d be getting better but--”

  
“They’ve been getting worse.” Peter interrupted. The fact that Happy didn’t correct him only confirmed Peter’s worst fears. They arrived at their destination, and Happy led Peter through a doorway into the base’s common area.

  
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Happy gestured to the man sitting across the room from them, staring dejectedly out of the window. Peter felt his throat tighten as the figure turned his wheelchair around and rolled towards them.

  
“Hey kid,” Tony Stark rasped, a shadow of a smile crossing his scarred face, “It’s been a minute.” Peter choked back a sob and managed a weak smile.

  
“Yeah,” Peter’s voice came out rough with emotion, “it’s been a while.” Peter’s body moved on it’s own, and he found himself kneeling next to Tony, with one hand placed comfortingly over Tony’s good hand. “I’ve really missed you, Mr. Stark.” Tony grunted, and lamely placed his damaged right hand over Peter’s.

  
“I missed you too, Peter,” Tony said sincerely. “Come on, let’s grab something to eat. I’m thinking cheeseburgers, what about you guys?” Happy and Peter couldn’t stop their smiles from breaking out across their faces.

  
“Sounds good boss,” Happy said softly, “Cheeseburgers it is.” As he headed out to call delivery, Tony weakly gestured towards the lab with his head.

  
“Come on Underoos,” he said, chuckling at the way Peter rolled his eyes at his old nickname, “Grub won’t get here for a while. Let’s go get our hands dirty.” Peter grinned, and quickly wheeled Tony towards the lab. Neither of them could ever resist the chance to build something. 

Once the two had found a working rhythm in the lab, things almost felt back to normal. If Peter tried to ignore the fact that Tony was stuck in a wheelchair, or the fact that his right arm was essentially useless, it was just like old times. It was just the two of them, exchanging snarky comments and tech jargon-filled ideas while holographic design models flew around them. Tony barked out a laugh as he grabbed one model and maximized it.

  
“Seriously kiddo, I think you’re missing a trick by not doing this,” Tony deadpanned in that way that only he could. “I really think this would be a good look for you.” Peter failed to stifle his laughter.

  
“With all due respect Mr. Stark, I don’t think a “web cape” really fits the image I’m going for.” Peter tried to maintain some level or seriousness in his voice, but Tony seemed determined to destroy any semblance of a serious conversation.

  
“And which image is that?” Tony inquired with one raised eyebrow. “The ‘I wear a crime-fighting onesie’ image, or the ‘I replaced all of the blue in my costume with black because I’m edgy and serious now’ image?” Peter crossed his arms indignantly, though the gesture’s effectiveness was severely lessened by the grin on his face.

  
“Well, MJ said she likes the new look so…” Peter trailed off as the blush creeping across his face removed his ability to speak. He immediately turned around and occupied himself with repairing a machine part that definitely didn’t require any repairs. Peter’s poor attempt at redirecting attention ended when he felt Tony’s left hand grasp his wrist. Surprised, Peter looked down to see Tony wearing one of the first legitimate smiles he’d seen in months.

  
“This MJ girl,” Tony said, choosing his words carefully, “She’s important to you right?” Peter gulped and nodded quickly. Tony grinned nostalgically. “My little spider’s all grown up,” Tony chuckled as he took the part away from Peter. “So,” Tony began as he took the part over to a large pile of machinery. Peter felt his stomach drop. He knew what Tony was going to ask. “When do I finally get to meet her?” Peter sighed. There it was.

  
“I dunno, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, trying to end the conversation as fast as possible, “after everything that happened over the summer, I don’t really want to get her too involved with the Spider-man stuff, you know?” He shrugged helplessly and sat down at a workbench. “I mean, she’s said that she gets it, and she’s said that doesn’t mind when I have to leave dates early to go do Spider-man stuff, even though it probably bothers her, but I feel like if she actually sees all of this then, I don’t know--”

  
“You don’t know if Spider-man will stay separate from the rest of your life,” Tony finished Peter’s sentence with a finality that left Peter unable to deny it. Tony rolled back over and put a sympathetic hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I… never really had a chance to separate Tony Stark from Iron Man. At first, anyway. ‘I am Iron Man’ and all that.” Tony waved his hand dismissively, as if the memories he was conjuring were unwelcome. “I was Iron Man, Iron Man was Tony Stark, there wasn’t really a line there. I couldn’t separate myself from the suit, and for a long time, I didn’t want to. Because I thought I wouldn’t be able to. Because… because…” Tony wasn’t looking at Peter anymore. He was staring straight ahead, as if he could see the past years he was talking about. Peter shifted uncomfortably.

  
“So… what changed? Did it change?” Peter asked hesitantly. Tony snapped out of his trance and made eye contact with Peter again.

  
“Pepper,” Tony said, almost too quickly. “Pepper happened. She kind of forced me to realize that I could be Tony Stark, and still be a hero, even if I took the suit off.” Tony looked wistfully at the corner of the lab, where the wrecked remains of his last suit were on display. “I learned that I wasn’t just the suit. I kept being Iron Man - being an Avenger - but when I was with her, and eventually, when I was with Morgan, I could just be Tony Stark. And eventually, that was enough.” Tony returned his attention to Peter. “My point is, Pepper was only able to do that for me because she knew me. She knew me better than anyone. Better than Rhodey, even. She understood Iron Man and Tony Stark better than everyone else, because she had seen everything that there was to see about me.” Tony almost sounded regretful about that. “So, eventually, you’re gonna have to let MJ see all of this. You need to let her see all of Spider-man if you want her to understand all of Peter Parker.” Peter felt his mouth dry up. That was a lot to take in, especially coming from Tony of all people. The two of them just sat there for a bit, before F.R.I.D.A.Y. mercifully broke the silence.

  
“Happy says to let you know that lunch is ready, Boss.” Tony and Peter both visibly relaxed as Friday’s robotic voice cut the tension in the room.

  
“Thanks Friday, let him know we’ll be up,” Tony said quickly. Peter rushed to grab the back of Tony’s wheelchair, and the two of them made their way up to the kitchen area, where Happy was passing out burgers and fries to the rest of the base’s inhabitants. Peter grinned as the smallest one squealed with delight and ran towards him.

  
“PETER!” Morgan leapt up at Peter, who caught her in a bear hug and spun her around. “Mommy and I were waiting for you!” Peter blushed as Pepper came over and joined the hug.

  
“Morgan’s been so excited to see you Peter,” Pepper said warmly. “You should really come by more often.” Peter rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

  
“I would, really, but school makes it hard.” Peter paused to accept a cheeseburger from Happy.

  
“What do they even teach you in high school anyways? Aside from how to be an annoying rugrat?” Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Sam Wilson clapped him on the back and snatched his cheeseburger away. “I figured you could just drop out since you’ve got the teen-prodigy-superhero-thing going on,” Sam teased, taking a bite out of the burger. Peter laughed.

  
“Yeah, well, until they start posting job offers for ‘Friendly Neighborhood Vigilante’ on indeed.com, I’ll probably still need a diploma.” Peter gave Sam a halfway smile and earned a round of laughter from those present.

  
“Damn, you really are a smart kid,” Sam remarked, tossing Peter a replacement cheeseburger. Morgan looked up at all of the adults with an expression of confusion and concern on her face.

  
“Job offer?” Morgan asked slowly. “But I thought Daddy said Peter was going to work for us now?” Peter felt his heart rate skyrocket. There it was. Reason number two for his awful mood this morning. Fortunately, Pepper was there to run damage control.

  
“Happy, why don’t you take Morgan out for a drive?” Pepper asked sweetly but with a hint of urgency in her voice. “The adults have some things we need to discuss.” Happy nodded, taking the hint right away.

  
“Come on, hon,” Happy muttered as he picked up Morgan and carried her out. “Let’s go get ice cream or something.” As Morgan’s delighted cheers for ice cream faded down the hallway, Peter felt his anxiety increase even more. He’d known this discussion was coming, but he hadn’t expected it to be so soon. He was so distracted by his own spiraling thoughts on the matter, that he almost missed Pepper placing a call over the P.A. system. A few short moments later, Wanda and Rhodey had joined them in the kitchen. Rhodey greeted Peter politely, while Wanda waved a more muted hello. Peter felt a pang in his chest when he saw how distraught she looked.  
_‘Vision didn’t come back,’_ Peter thought sadly, _‘Not everyone got a second chance at life after Thanos.’_ Peter briefly marveled at how well Wanda seemed to be handling things, and his thoughts wandered back to May, and how she handled her own loss. Peter didn’t get to spend too long dwelling on such things, as Tony cleared his throat, calling everyone’s attention towards him.

  
“Alright, we can stuff our faces and talk business at the same time, can’t we?” Tony asked with his trademark carefree impatience. “Someone hand me a burger. And some fries. I’m starving.” Eventually, the motley crew made their way to the lounge area just past the kitchen area, and everyone took the time to settle in and begin properly eating before addressing the elephant in the room. “Right then,” Tony finally began, clapping a hand on Peter’s shoulder, “Just in case no one else reads the memos Pepp so diligently wrote up for us, this meeting is to discuss the future of the Avengers.” The silence that filled the room was its own kind of acknowledgement. It had been just over nine months since the Snap had been undone. Since then the status of the Avengers, if they were even a thing anymore, had been up in the air. Granted, most of that had been due to Tony being comatose or bedridden for the first few months afterwards. Now that he was at least cognizant, they could get back to business. Or at least, that was the idea. Peter cleared his throat awkwardly, and suddenly all eyes were on him. He shifted in his seat nervously.

  
“Uh, guys?” Peter began carefully, “If we’re talking about Avengers stuff - I mean- I don’t know if I’m really, you know, qualified to--”

  
“Peter,” Rhodey cut Peter off. “We all saw what went down with you and Mysterio in London. You handled that, by yourself, better than any of us could have. If we thought you weren’t qualified to be here, we wouldn’t have shown up.” Wanda smiled encouragingly, but Peter only felt more confused.

  
“Wait, I don’t get it,” Peter scrambled, “Why would that have meant you guys didn’t show up?” He looked quizzically at Tony, who now had that look he got whenever he had just done something he shouldn’t have. All eyes were on Tony Stark now. He shrugged.

  
“I figured it would be more dramatic if I told him now.” Tony spun his wheelchair around so that he was completely facing Peter now. “We’re all here because we think Spider-man should lead the New Avengers.”


	2. The Job Offer

Later on, Peter would insist that he’d fainted for a few moments after Tony said that he should lead the Avengers, but the reality was that he kind of just shut down. Peter sat there in shock, jaw hanging wide open, as he looked from Tony to Pepper, back to Tony, then at Sam, and Rhodey, then Wanda, then back to Tony. No one jumped in to say ‘Haha we’re just messing with you kid.’ Eventually, Peter realized that Tony wasn’t smiling anymore. He was as serious as ever.

“Mr. Stark, what the…” Peter gestured vaguely, desperately struggling to form a coherent sentence. “What are you even talking about? I can’t lead the Avengers, I’m just a kid!”

“A kid with some kickass superpowers,” Sam threw in helpfully. “Yeah, the fact that you can’t even buy me a beer yet is a little concerning, but you fought Thanos with the rest of us. Honestly, I’m not really seeing the problem.” Peter spluttered incredulously. Sam was being nice to him?! Did he inhale too many exhaust fumes on the train earlier?

“I’m - I have to go to school!” Peter said weakly. “I don’t have time to be more than a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man. I have Academic Decathlon, and I have to apply to colleges and I--” Peter cut himself short when he noticed that Wanda wasn’t smiling anymore.

“So the fate of the world is less important than your homework?” Wanda asked skeptically. “Tony makes it sound like you’re constantly skipping class to stop crimes in New York anyway, so how is this any different?” Peter side-eyed Tony, who was trying and failing to look like the innocent party in all of this. Peter was starting to get agitated.

“Look, guys,” Peter stood up suddenly, “I really appreciate this. I do. And I mean, it’s not that I don’t want to save the world - like, if you guys need help I’ll show up.” At some point, Peter had started pacing across the lounge area. “But the Avengers protect the World, capital W. Spider-man protects NYC - I stop bank robberies and get stolen bikes back and - and - someone has to look out for the little guy. Avengers is too big picture, you know? Like, when was the last time one of you stopped a bank robbery?” Peter looked helplessly around the room. Why didn’t any of them get it? Finally, Pepper broke the silence.

“Peter,” she said gently, walking over to him and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, “No one is asking you to abandon New York. But you have so much more to offer the world than just stopping bank robbers. You can do that and still be an Avenger; they’re not mutually exclusive.” Peter didn’t feel much better about that.

“Okay, so… let’s say I join the Avengers,” Peter said slowly, trying to avoid sounding like he was agreeing to anything. “Why can’t someone else be the leader, like - like Sam!” Peter wildly gestured to Sam, who looked legitimately surprised by the suggestion. “I mean, you have Captain America’s shield now right? That’s like a passing the torch thing! So you should be the leader.” Sam waved Peter’s suggestion aside dismissively.

“Carrying the shield doesn’t automatically make me the leader,” Sam said, “And even if it did, I’m not exactly out here trying to be the next Captain America. I’m still Falcon, for now.” Undeterred, Peter immediately turned to Rhodey.

“Col. Rhodes! Rhodey! You have an actual military rank!” Peter exclaimed. “So, like, that’s authority, right? You can be the leader.” Rhodey chuckled weakly. 

“Yeah, given how things went the last time we tried to have the government directly oversee the Avengers, that’s definitely not gonna happen.” Okay, Peter had to admit that he had a point there. Wanda laughed lightly from across the room.

“I really hope you’re not about to ask me to be the leader.” Wanda’s comment was enough to get a small laugh out of everyone, but it wasn’t quite enough to make things less tense. “You’re a nice kid, Peter. Even if you don’t want to lead us, the team needs someone like you,” Wanda’s smile once again became clouded with sadness. “We’re a little… short on optimism right now.” Peter let his arms fall helplessly by his side.

“I… urgh,” Peter fell heavily back onto the couch and glared a hole into the ceiling. Finally, Tony decided to have mercy on the kid.

“Listen, Pete,” Tony said, a hint of resignation in his voice, “how about this? For the next year or so, you can just keep the whole friendly neighborhood gig that you’ve got going on. And if there’s an Avengers level threat, we know how to get in touch.” Peter sat back up and raised an eyebrow at Tony.

“Really?” Peter asked skeptically. “You’re giving up that easily?” Tony smiled with what could almost pass for bashfulness.

“Of course not,” Tony admitted readily, “But for now, you can consider this a… uh, standing job offer? Pepp, those are allowed, right?” Tony craned his neck back to look at Pepper, who was clearly trying not to laugh, more for Peter’s sake than Tony’s.

“I can’t think of any reason why not,” Pepper said. “There’s a little bit of paperwork involved but it’s nothing I can’t arrange.” Satisfied, Tony turned back to Peter.

“Well, there you have it,” Tony said. “You now have a standing offer to become a full-time member of the Avengers whenever you think you’re ready. Until then, you can keep being a friendly local Spider-kid.” Peter chose to ignore Tony’s deliberate misnaming of him and focused on the actual offer on the table.

_ ‘I could be an Avenger,’ _ Peter marveled to himself, _ ‘The Avengers actually want me to be an Avenger!’ _ Peter looked at those gathered.  _ ‘They actually trust me.’ _ Additionally, as Peter looked around the room, it occurred to him that there weren’t that many people there.

“Uh, Mr. Stark,” Peter said slowly, “I’m really grateful for the job offer, and I really do think that I’ll… eventually want to be an Avenger, but…is this it?” Peter shyly gestured around the room. “Including me, there are only four potential Avengers here.” Rhodey ran his hand over his head.

“Yeah, we’re a little short-handed right now,” Rhodey admitted. “Most of the crowd that fought Thanos with us is…otherwise preoccupied.” Peter sourly recalled Nick Fury (Who apparently wasn’t actually Nick Fury! That had been an uncomfortable conversation, to say the least.) telling him that several of the Earth’s defenders were either off-world or busy with their own matters. “Item number one on the New Avengers to-do list is finding more members,” Rhodey assured Peter. Peter nodded slowly. Even if he did join the Avengers, they were far from the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes that they had once been. They were going to need a lot of help. Far more than Peter was capable of giving them. Peter’s introspection on the matter was cut short by Tony Stark being Tony Stark.

“Well, I think that covers everything. Meeting adjourned everyone!” Tony said with a hint of self-satisfaction. He awkwardly turned his wheelchair around and began making his way back to the kitchen. “If anyone else wants a burger, now’s your chance. I’m still hungry.” While some of the others raced back for the remaining food, Peter noticed that Pepper was heading down the hallway, looking forlorn. She had been putting on a brave face for the last few hours, but for one moment Peter was able to see the pain and grief she was dealing with. Peter took a quick glance at the kitchen to make sure no one was paying attention to him, and went after Pepper without a second thought. There was something that Peter needed to know.

“How bad is it?” Peter asked as soon as he and Pepper were out of earshot of the kitchen. Pepper froze in her tracks. For a second, Peter regretted asking her. But there was a larger part of him that had to know the truth, that couldn’t just watch Tony and not know. Pepper took a few deep breaths and turned to face Peter. Peter felt his chest tighten when he saw the tears running down Pepper’s face, and somehow he knew the answer before she said anything.

“He’s not getting better, Peter,” Pepper said weakly. Peter felt his heart fall into his stomach. “He’s… his condition hasn’t shown any signs of improvement. Based on the tests he’s run, it actually looks like he’s getting worse.”

“How much worse?” The words left Peter’s mouth before he could decide whether he really wanted to know or not. Pepper stepped closer, and pulled Peter in for a hug.

“Oh, Peter…” Pepper muttered. Peter tried and failed to hold back his tears, but they refused to obey him, and they came running down his face. “Tony… he just suffered too much nerve damage from the gauntlet. He can’t walk, he can’t use his right arm, he-” Pepper choked back a sob, and Peter felt himself tighten the hug a bit. He realized that it was just as much for him as it was for her. “He’s gone deaf in his right ear, and eventually he’ll lose sight in his right eye. And  _ god knows what else. _ ” Now both Pepper and Peter were crying, holding each other in the hallway. There was still a part of Peter that had been hoping against hope that some way, somehow, Tony would recover. Even though he knew it was impossible, he had allowed himself the smallest amount of hope that Tony Stark would be okay. Because what else did Tony Stark do, if not the impossible?

“No… no… no no No NO!” Peter jolted up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. He sat there for a few minutes, his brain scrambling to calm itself and separate real from fake.

_ ‘It was just a dream,’  _ Peter insisted to himself.  _ ‘It was just a nightmare… the same nightmare.’ _ Even though it had been three months since the Europe trip, Peter still had nightmares about Mysterio. How he manipulated him, how he betrayed him, and how he very nearly murdered his friends. Nearly every night since then, Peter had relived in the moment when Mysterio had threatened to kill an illusion of MJ. Of course, in Peter’s dreams, it was never an illusion. Some nights, MJ would be replaced by Ned, or May, or even Happy, but it was always the same: Mysterio killing someone Peter cared about, and Peter being too helpless to stop him. Tonight, though, the nightmare had been even more intense than ever. Peter released a depressed sigh, and grabbed his phone so he could text the only person he’d spoken to about the nightmares before. Peter felt a slight twinge of irritation upon noticing the time.  _ 4:30am _ . Not the start to his Sunday that he had been hoping for.

**Peter: Hey idek if your up but…**

**Peter: Had the Mysterio nightmare again**

**Peter: idk what to do** **   
** **MJ: ofc im awake nerd**

**MJ: Im sorry**

**MJ: I wish i could help more :(**

**MJ: Just remember: he’s gone. You won. It’s over.**

**MJ: Let’s talk more about this later.**

**Peter: yeah, sure. Thanks.**

**MJ: Anytime**

Peter actually felt a little bit better after hearing from MJ. When he had first told her about the nightmares, Peter hadn’t been sure what to expect. At the time, Peter was still mostly used to the MJ that would always have a cutting response ready in case anyone made a fool of themselves. So he had been reasonably surprised when MJ had responded with genuine, if muted, concern. After that, it hadn’t taken long for MJ to become Peter’s confidante about the more emotionally taxing aspects of being Spider-man. Peter sat in bed musing over the state of his relationship for a few more minutes, before concluding that he wasn’t going to fall back asleep. He threw a hoodie on over his pajamas and quietly snuck down to the kitchen. He’d stayed the night at the new base only a few times before, but his abilities had helped him find the quickest route to the kitchen while navigating in the dark, as well as let him lighten his steps enough that he had never woken or disturbed anyone. As a result, Peter’s recurring nightmares had made him a frequent late night patron of Tony Stark’s kitchen. And upon reaching the kitchen, Peter saw that the base’s other resident midnight-snacker was already there, eating straight out of a quart of Stark Raving Hazelnuts ice cream.

“You’re late,” Wanda quipped from the countertop she was sitting on. Peter smiled weakly and fetched his own quart of ice cream from the freezer. Tony had made a habit of keeping it stocked with the various Ben & Jerry’s flavors named after members of the team. Peter preferred Hunka Hulka Burning Fudge, much to Tony’s chagrin.

“Sorry. I overslept,” Peter quipped back at her. He lazily perched himself on the edge of the countertop opposite Wanda and dug in to his ice cream. The two sat there, eating ice cream in silence, for what could have been 30 minutes or 3 hours. Their ritual of eating ice cream at the crack of 5am had never required much discussion. They both knew that they were awake at this hour because of the nightmares that they were each trying to subdue with brain freeze, but neither one of them had ever brought it up. This wasn’t a therapy session - this was a coping mechanism. A coping mechanism that would have long since clogged Peter’s arteries with ice cream and whatever else he could scrounge out of Tony’s fridge, if he’d had a normal metabolism. Just as Peter’s spoon scraped the bottom of his ice cream container, his and Wanda’s small reprieve from reality was ended by Pepper walking into the kitchen. Pepper paused for a second to take in the sight before her, before sighing sadly and walking past Wanda to the coffee maker.

“You two should really be getting more sleep,” Pepper cautioned, though the tiredness in her voice gave away her own lack of sleep. Peter and Wanda smiled apologetically as they threw out their empty ice cream containers.

“Sleeping doesn’t really agree with me right now,” Wanda muttered. Turning to leave, she placed a comforting hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Thanks for the company Pete,” she said with a soft smile before heading down the hallway. Pepper stood quietly by the coffee machine while Peter awkwardly searched in the fridge for some breakfast. The silence was eventually broken by the coffee machine finishing brewing.

“Morgan and Tony won’t be up for a couple more hours,” Pepper said matter-of-factly. Peter nodded distractedly. Pepper continued, undeterred. “I have to head to a meeting, but you’re more than welcome to stay until they wake up.” Peter shifted uncomfortably as he looked at the time. 7am.

“Um, actually I’ve gotta head out, since I, uh…” Peter fumbled for a way to explain that even though his date with MJ wasn’t for several more hours, he just didn’t feel ready to see Tony like…  _ that _ again. Fortunately, Pepper saved him by placing a kind hand on his shoulder.

“I’ve got to head out now, but you’re always welcome here, Peter,” Pepper said sincerely. “Don’t be such a stranger, okay?” Peter nodded hesitantly, which seemed to satisfy Pepper. Grabbing her coffee, Pepper left the kitchen, leaving Peter alone with his thoughts once again.

Two hours later, Spider-man was swinging through the skyscrapers of NYC. He hadn’t seen any point to sticking around the Avengers base, so he had suited up and left about 30 minutes after Pepper did. Spider-man had spent the last hour and a half patrolling the city blocks near the train station, but it had been a slow day for criminals. There was always a part of him that felt bad about wanting there to be crimes to stop, but he knew that it was more out of boredom than any real malice towards anyone. Feeling his phone vibrate in his backpack, Spider-man quickly perched himself on a nearby railing and checked his messages.

**MJ: Reminder we’re supposed to meet up at noon.**

**MJ: You still upstate?**

Spider-man glanced at the train station and picked out the line that looked like it would get him back to Queens the fastest.

**Peter: Already omw back**

**Peter: see u soon**

Spider-man tucked his phone away and flung himself onto the train as it left the station. Once the train was far enough along, Peter removed his mask and put his earbuds in. As upstate New York raced past him, Peter reflected on Tony’s offer for the first time since the previous night. Peter knew that there was nothing wrong with wanting to save the world. But as he passed streets full of regular people just trying to make it through the day, Peter couldn’t help but feel like saving the little guy would make a bigger difference.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! This is my first MCU fic so if you liked it please leave a comment and let me know what you think!


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